Reaal van achten, geslagen te Lima, munt uit het wrak van de Oost-Indiëvaarder 't Vliegend Hart 1686 - 1689

This silver coin, a “Reaal van achten,” was minted in Lima, Peru, and later recovered from the wreck of the Dutch East India ship, ‘t Vliegend Hart. The crudeness of the coin is striking. It's not a perfectly stamped disc; instead, it is an irregular shape, betraying its laborious making. Minting such coins involved extracting silver from mines – a process often reliant on exploited labor – then melting, hammering, and stamping the metal. The coin's unevenness speaks volumes about the speed and pressure involved. The markings, though faded, reveal a cross, a shield, and other symbols of Spanish colonial power. Consider how this object embodies the vast networks of trade, labor, and colonial power. Silver mined in the Americas fueled European economies and paid for the spices and goods that ‘t Vliegend Hart was carrying when it sank. This coin is not just currency, but a dense material record of global exchange, and the human cost behind it. It's a reminder that even the smallest objects can tell enormous stories about our shared history.